Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has announced a reform for the public service, saying the sector continues to overspend by more than K300 million a year.

Addressing the business community in Port Moresby yesterday, O’Neill said: “We are going to have a large reform in the public service structure. Public Service continues to overspend over K300 million a year on maintaining a public service structure in our country.

“This sort of expenditure is unsustainable for Papua New Guinea.
“That is why a large reform package will be set up where it will mean we will streamline some of the departments so that they can perform better with other departments that

are related and, we will want them to be bit more efficient, quality-driven. That would mean we may have to retrench some of our people into sectors where they are needed most.

“We are open to consultation during the reforms.
“Business and government need to work together for better outcomes.

“Our government is proud to have the mandate to continue driving positive change.
“We are grateful for the support given by our people to continue our core policy agenda.
“We are also grateful for the support of the business community for our government.
“We will again be a business-friendly government and consult with all stakeholders.”

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PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has ordered that the security call-out in Hela be expanded to address the unrest in Enga and Southern Highlands.

The call-out is allowed under the existing order for Hela, he said in a statement.
“Our patience has ended with troublemakers in both Enga and Southern Highlands,” O’Neill said.

“The call-out will enable defence and police personnel to work together to maintain order.

“There will be zero-tolerance for any further interruptions to law and order, and community safety.

“The behaviour we are witnessing by small groups is totally unacceptable and is impacting on the lives of men, women and children in these areas.”

O’Neill warned people seeking to cause disruptions that they would be arrested by the disciplined forces and tried for criminal acts.

He said the situation was so different to the relative calm experienced during the recent general election in the Highlands.

“Throughout the campaigning and voting periods, we saw a big change in attitude in these areas,” O’Neill said.

“It is disappointing that towards the end of counting, we are seeing this unruly behaviour. I call on community leaders to work with the disciplined forces, and help to prevent anti-social behaviour in your areas.”

The call-out for Hela early this year was to address the issue of illegal guns and tribal fights before the election process began.

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill wants to bring back for debate the proposal to reserve 22 seats in Parliament for women.
He told a breakfast meeting with the business community in Port Moresby yesterday that he would bring it up with his coalition partners and Opposition MPs.
The proposal is to have two governors – one male and one female – in each of the 22 provinces. It guarantees at least 22 women in the House.

He said it should not stop women from contesting the other 89 Open seats.
“I’m quite disappointed that there is no woman is in this parliament,” O’Neill said.
“Woman’s representation in parliament has been a subject of discussion for many years. Even the previous government had tried to do some legislative reforms to bring more representation of women into parliament. But those who objected most were women themselves.”A motion to have 22 reserved seats for women in Parliament was defeated in the House in 2014 after intensive lobbying.

But O’Neill said he would discuss the idea again with his coalition partners and Opposition MPs before it could be re-tabled in Parliament.
“I can assure you that I will be discussing this with our coalition partners and see if we can get the reserved seats – bring some women representatives into parliament as appointed members,” he said.

Digicel Foundation chief executive Beatrice Mahuru brought up the issue during yesterday’s breakfast. She asked O’Neill what his government planned to do before the next general election in 2022 to address the lack of female representation in Parliament.
O’Neill said “going forward, we need to have a long-term solution”.
“Just appointing members to reserved seats is not the way to go into the future,” he said.
He said he supported the idea of having one male governor and one female governor “but elected by everyone” in each province. It will mean expanding to a 133-member Parliament.

“I’ve been personally supportive of that option because that immediately gives 22 women to go into parliament,” he said.
“That option does not restrict the women from running in the open seats. They can compete with their male counterparts for the open seats.

“But for the regional seats at least, you can have some fair representations.
“Those are the options we will look at over the course of this term (of parliament). I will prefer a bipartisan approach in this regard. We will start talking with our colleagues on the other side and see how we could go.”

Lae based fashion designer Sarah Haoda, will be Papua New Guinea’s first ever ambassador at an upcoming fashion fest in Europe.

This will be the first time ever that the fashion gurus in this part of the world will get a glimpse of the unique designs Papua New Guinea has to offer in this prestigious and highly competitive business.

Her initial reaction when she received the invitation from the London Pacific Fashion collective was one of nervousness but her faith and confidence in God helped rid of her of this and she is now focused.

“I want to thank my heavenly Father for His Grace is sufficient,” she boldly said.
“I want to extend my appreciation to the organisers for this opportunity of a lifetime,” Ms Todd said.
“I was nervous till a few days ago when I settled on my print theme, combination and colours,” she told the Post-Courier.
When asked on the range she will be show-casing she said and without revealing too much that it would be called ‘Kumul Queen.”
“I prefer to unveil on the runway but I will showcase the magnificent Raggiana Bird of paradise and incorporate the bamboo weave in natural brown, bright red and yellow to represent our national colours.

“I wish to promote our national bird because of its uniqueness, its importance, significance and the pride it brings us as Papua New Guineans.
“Since the theme is climate change I will draw attention to our country as one of the largest pristine tropical rainforests in the world, third to the Amazon and Congo basins,” she added.

Asked what her participation at this event, Ms Todd said it not just a reward but also the opportunity to inspire other young designers in country to follow the path.
She said the doors it will open are many but important for her is that she will be putting PNG on the map especially for the first time in this part of the world.

She extended her thanks and appreciation to everybody who have and undoubtedly will stand by her including her family as she makes this journey to the UK.

The Business Desk of the Post-Courier wishes her the best and God’s Blessings on this journey.

The Hagen Show was first before PNG’s Independence as an event to unify tribes.

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The first Mount Hagen Cultural Show was staged in 1961, while PNG was still under the colonial rule of Australia. Many different tribes from the Highlands gathered together in an effort to share their cultural experiences with each other, bringing a calming effect to inter-tribal conflicts and animosities.

Since the first show, there have of course been technological advancements, political developments, and major paradigm shifts; namely, PNG’s independence from Australia in 1975. Mount Hagen has boomed in the past 40 years, and is now the third largest city in PNG. While the tribal focus of the show remains the same, the event has been made more tourist-friendly. A mix of tribal traditions and modern entertainment are designed to attract international and domestic travelers, and there is now a monetary prize for the winning cultural group. This ensures that the singsings are a colorful, competitive affair, with performers drumming, chanting and dancing at a pace that leaves even the audience breathless.

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Now local entertainers from the modern music scene also perform during the show. Arts and crafts will also be on display apart from the cultural groups which will be preforming

Don’t miss out on this exciting cultural event in one of the Highlands regions biggest commercial township!

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Northern Governor Gary Juffa has called on the Government to set up a special parliamentary committee to address the taxation issue in the country.

He said the current tax regime is very hostile to Papua New Guineans and genuine investors with PNG’s tax rates currently the highest in the Pacific.

Juffa claimed that a significant portion of illegal and semi illegal businesses are earning profits, especially in the forestry and fisheries sectors as well as property and other poorly regulated businesses.

He added that such illegal entities are avoiding taxes and getting away with it, leaving the shortfall to be met by genuine investors like PNG SMEs and PNG wage earners.

“These non-genuine transnational criminal type entities were engaged in elaborate tax avoidance schemes such as transfer pricing and undervaluation, avoiding taxes and getting away with serious tax crimes while those who fronted up to pay their taxes were being penalised and punished.”

Juffa further reiterated that the Government needed to take drastic measures, including setting up a special parliamentary committee comprising MPs from both sides of the House who have the experience and knowledge of such matters.

He added that this will effectively address the issue of declining State revenue mainly through leakage and ineffective taxation administration.

Meanwhile, Juffa said some mines were among those who barely paid their full portion of taxes and a few foreign wage earners were earning an income in PNG illegally while on business and tourist visas.